by Bonnie Gill
Abby skimmed most of the recipes they logged as failures. “No help at all, Kazoo.” She pulled out her yellow highlighter pen and marked the passages listing ingredients for both summons and banishment of the curse, and the over-imaginative green genie.
An airtight container.
Black, Red, and White candles.
Salt.
Spring water.
Her blood.
The Genie’s name.
A mirror.
She looked into Kazoo’s deep brown eyes. “Well, I know where to get the candles.”
“The spring water on the other hand could be tricky.” She wondered if she could just buy it from the store in a gallon jug. Numerous companies claimed they had natural spring water in their containers. “What if their claims aren’t true?”
Kazoo growled, then yipped in agreement.
“I’ll ask the lady in the spiritual store what I should do. She knew the genie’s name so that was good. Her blood was easy. She had approximately eight pints stored inside of her.
Abby stretched and then strolled to the kitchen. She loved Pepper’s yellow walls and her seventies-style green fern wallpaper. She really did love it here. She poured herself a cup of coffee, and sat at the table and reviewed her plans.
Removing the curse loomed as her foremost objective.
She wasn’t sure she would include River when she performed the spell.
She didn’t want Pepper there either. According to the journal it could be dangerous if something went wrong. And if Abby’s past history indicated how the spell would go, it would be disastrous.
Maybe she should just live with the curse? Kazoo wound his three-pound body around her legs under the table and whined a lonesome sound.
“Okay, little buddy. That isn’t an option, but I’ll have to do this alone. That’s the only way I can protect our friends. Question is, how in the world do I ditch them?”
River’s tender kisses kept popping into her mind, haunting her. If she lifted the curse, she’d be free to pursue a relationship. Would River even want her now, now that he’d seen her turn into a monster? After she trashed his cop car? After she’d pushed him away so many times? She bit down on her bottom lip.
“I’m not even sure if I want a relationship.” Especially after he shot her.
But she hadn’t thought of Burt once in the past few weeks. Which was a good thing.
She turned her coffee cup around and around on the table.
Her mind still wandered back to the picnic. Her memory conjured the desire of River’s soft strokes along her arm. When she closed her eyes, she could still feel his hands gliding over her skin from the tips of her fingers up to the top of her shoulder.
Shoot. Thinking about River distracted her.
She needed to do something.
“You stay here and guard the farm, Kazoo. I’m going into town to see if the gift store has those damn candles.”
River cuffed the Gnome to an office chair and double-checked to make sure he couldn’t get loose. Ottar helped him wheel their prisoner behind the police station. They used a pressure washer, some industrial strength soap, and scrubbed the filthy creature with a toilet brush. They spun him in the chair to rinse and dry. The nasty critter screamed his brains out.
River crouched down to the Gnome’s level. “I need to know exactly where the old sheriff’s body and treasure are stashed.
The Gnome giggled and turned his black irises outward from his nose for a walleyed look.
Ottar loomed in the background and made his threatening face at the Gnome for effect.
River cleared his throat to gain the mini-monster’s attention. “We can do this two different ways. You spill everything and we won’t hurt you, or we can start by chopping off your toes and then your fingers. If that doesn’t work, we can hack away at other appendages. What’s it going to be?” He pointed to Ottar who held up different sharp shiny instruments, opening and closing them.
The disgusting Gnome licked his lips leaving a slime trail of saliva stringing between them. He looked back and forth between the agents. “All right. All right. They’re in the cave.”
“Which one?”
“I can show you. If you untie me.” He gave an oily smile revealing brown skanky teeth and nerve endings that resembled black stalactites clinging to his recessed white gums.
“No can do.” River spun him around in the chair.
Ottar held up a machete. The bright sunlight reflected off the blade and cast a gleaming beam across the Gnome’s neck.
“It’s in the woods. Not far from where you captured me. About thirty meters north.” The Gnome spat the words out quickly.
Ottar wrote down the location.
River leaned closer to him. “What about the old sheriff?”
The old Gnome laughed, but his nervous eyes darted around the yard. “He’s in the cave.”
“Is he alive?” He was so done with the pint-sized man. He wanted to flay the little gaming bastard right there.
He shrugged. “A Gnome’s got to eat. So, no.”
A low growl vibrated free from River’s throat. “There will be consequences for killing him.”
The critter shook his head like a dog, and droplets of water pelted River from the Gnome’s earlier spray-down bath.
He kept his stare targeted on him. “How did you find Mrs. Livingston and Thomas?”
The little bastard let out a long dramatic sigh as if he was burdened to tell the story. “I was minding me own business in a Lagan Valley—the forest lies in the Greater Belfast area in Ireland. Anyways, all of the sudden someone bonks me on me head and the lights went out. If ya know what I mean. I woke up in a wooden box, gagged and blindfolded. Then they put me box in a machine that roared and made me ears pop.” He squished his neck down and brought up his shoulders and winced.
“Then, someone picks me up and drives me to the old lady and her spoiled brat of a son. You know . . . I saw him pick his nose and eat it.” The Gnome stuck out his long tubular tongue and coughed. “They drove me to this forest and set me free. They told me if I found them the pirate treasure, they would ship me home. The end.”
River bit down on his lips and wondered if the creature told the truth. “That’s it? Who captured you?”
“Dunna know.” He looked down at his tied feet and flexed them against the ropes.
“Okay.” He wheeled the Gnome, still strapped to the chair, back inside and into the jail cell.
Ottar walked over while River locked the barred door. “Let’s go arrest them.”
Abby found the different colored candles in the home interior store three doors down from Pepper’s Perky Pets. Relieved that she didn’t have to drive all the way back to ‘Blazing Broomsticks’, she scampered down Main Street with the bag of candles in hand.
Thomas pulled up his POS rust-infested Ford on the road next to her, and rolled down the window. “Hey, you need a ride?”
The fine hairs on the back of her ears rose. “Um . . . No. Thanks. It’s a beautiful day. I think I’ll walk.” After seeing the video last night, she didn’t want anything to do with him or his mom.
He parked the car up ahead of her and walked over to confront her. “What’s up, Abby?” He wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Why are you running away?
“I’m not running away. I’m just really busy.” She jerked her arm back but the stupid creep held on tight. Her brain sent a message to her feet to flee but they remained stuck to the pavement.
“I need you to take a ride with me. Now.” He pulled her in the direction of his car. She turned and swung the sack of candles smacking his chest, but he didn’t let go.
A massive shot of pain burst through the back of her head, her knees collapsed, and her mind darke
ned.
Abby’s brain was an inferno burning hot enough to melt her skull. Ropes bound her arms in front of her, digging into the soft sensitive flesh of her wrists. A musty stale odor lingered through the air. She dragged open her heavy lids and took in her surroundings. The dark room held rakes, a lawn mower, and other yard maintenance equipment. Wooden beams every foot or so showed in contrast to metallic silver walls. A double garage door took up almost one side of the square shaped area.
“Hey. You’re awake.” Pepper’s voice sounded frail next to her.
Abby snapped her gaze to the side. Pepper was tied up too, sporting a nasty bruised temple. She leaned back against the wall.
“What happened? Why did Thomas do this?”
“My only guess is he figured out River and Ottar were onto him. I think we’re being held for bargaining.”
With a bungee cord tied around her crossed ankles, Abby braced her knuckles on the ground and struggled to sit up. Her head swayed with a woozy feeling. If they ever escaped this mess she vowed to kill Thomas herself. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long.”
She rested her forehead on her knees. “Do you think you can stand?”
“I don’t think so, not with my feet twisted and tied.”
Pulling her feet under her butt, she walked on her knees several steps before she collapsed. She tried again, straining over every inch she covered. “I’m not going to sit here and wait for him to come back.”
Pepper followed her. “Ouch. This concrete is murder on the knee caps.”
They both waddled toward the front of the garage, taking breaks every yard or so, until they finally arrived a few feet from the door.
“Abbadoodle? Any bright ideas on how we can get the door open?”
She sat back on her feet. “No. I guess this wasn’t such a brilliant plan after all.”
“I’m taller than you. Maybe I can reach the door knob.” Pepper brought her hands up, twisted the knob, and tugged on the door. “It’s no use. The door must be locked or nailed shut.”
Abby searched the space for something she could use to pick the lock. Not that she’d ever picked a lock before. That’s when she found a button on the wall that looked like a doorbell.
“Jump up and hit that switch with your nose. I’m too short.”
“My feet are twisted. Why don’t you come over here and gnaw through the ropes.”
“Wow, someone’s crabby today.”
“You bet I’m crabby. Thomas better hope River and Ottar catch him, because I guarantee they will be a lot easier on him than I will.” Pepper said.
“Can you at least try? I think that’s the garage door opener.”
“Nope. I’ve already tried standing. I’ll flip over on my stomach. See if you can unknot the rope on my feet.’
She knee-walked over to Pepper’s feet and tugged on the rope with her fingers. “He’s really pulled these knots tight.”
Pepper let out a long frustrated sigh. “Keep working on it. What’s going on with you and River?”
“You’re asking me this now?” She continued to pick at the knot with her bound hands.
“Sure. Why not? What else do we have to do?”
Abby looked up at Pepper revealing her sad-eye look. “Who knows? He’s upset.”
“Yeah, I bet the whole police car scene had him second guessing things.”
“You’re not helping.”
“He’ll come around.”
“I’m still sort of pissed at him for shooting me.”
“Things will work out.”
“Hey, I almost got it. Wait. Darn, well at least the cord loosened up a bit. See if you can move your feet so you can stand.”
Pepper worked her way up to her feet and hit the button with her nose. The large door grinded, and lifted up at a slow pace.
Thomas and his mother armed with a gun and a hacksaw waited inside.
Abby’s stomach clenched and she thought she might hurl. Mrs. Livingston pointed the gun at Abby, and her eyes glistened with about as much humanity as a shark’s gaze. The vertical lines between her eyebrows deepened with her scowl. “Our prisoners thought they could escape,” she said in a voice filled with hate and discontent. “Maybe we should hobble them.”
Chapter 31
“What?” As the word flew out of Abby’s mouth, scenes from the movie Misery flashed in her mind.
Mrs. Livingston’s glare jumped with wildness while pointing a gun at Abby’s head. It was bad enough her ankles were tied, but her imagination ran crazy with the threat of hobbling.
“Let us go,” Pepper demanded.
“Go get the boards, Thomas.” His mother kept the gun trained on Abby, her aim strong and steady.
Abby couldn’t move, her legs still and numb. Tremors shook through her body like little earthquakes.
Thomas shoved Pepper’s upper arm and she tumbled to the ground, falling on her side. A loud smack accompanied her landing. He didn’t look back while he hotfooted it into the garage.
“You girls are going to be our key to leaving this God-forsaken place.” Mrs. Livingston pointed the barrel of the gun while she talked. First she aimed at Abby, and then down at Pepper. “Hurry up, Thomas. We don’t have all day.”
“I’m coming.” Thomas carried a board out of the garage along with a sledgehammer.
When Pepper spotted the wood in his hands, her eyes bulged with worry.
Flashing blue lights signaled the sheriff’s car approaching. Abby slumped, and the rigidness in her spine turned to a mashed potato consistency. A deep exhale expelled every molecule of air from her lungs. She had never been so happy to see the “Oh shit” lights of a cop car pulling up the driveway. River must have had a spare car. Surely he hadn’t repaired the one she trashed.
Thomas jerked Pepper to a stand. She swayed off balance and leaned up against him, and he placed the hacksaw blade against her throat.
Mrs. Livingston wrapped her gnarled fingers around Abby’s bicep and dragged her in the direction of their car. Still on her knees, she moved them as fast as she could, trying to stay upright. She was positive she’d left a trail of skin from her knees in her wake.
“Come on,” Mrs. Livingston urged. Spit spattered from her lips with the words.
They were about five feet from Thomas’s vehicle when River’s car drove up behind the old Ford. Both River and Ottar jumped out, guns drawn, but they kept cover behind the open car doors.
“Drop your weapons,” River commanded. He focused his crystal blue eyes on Mrs. Livingston. Ottar fixed both his stare and weapon on Thomas.
“Don’t come any closer or they’re both dead.” Thomas tugged Pepper in front of him using her as a body-shield.
Abby braced her arms on the opening of the car door while the old woman pushed on her back. One thing was for sure, she wasn’t going to let that woman shove her into that car. She felt the cool steel of the gun barrel against her temple.
“Sheriff, I’ll blow her brains out. You need to back out of the driveway so we can leave.”
Pepper turned to Thomas. “How can you do this to me? Are you really going to slit my throat?”
“I will, if I have to. You think you’re too good for me. You never returned my calls after our night together. I could have made you happy.”
“Dude. That night was a one shot deal and a mistake.” Pepper squirmed and fought his grip.
“A mistake? It seemed to me you wanted it as much as I did. I was a little disappointed.” He tsked. “I would have thought you would have been a better lay.”
Ottar’s pupils grew double in size, and his fingers shook as he opened and closed them in a fist. His other hand wrapped around the shotgun he held out in front of him, aimed at Thomas’s face.
Abby’s jaw tightened and she bared her teeth at Thomas. “You’re a real asshole.”
River adjusted his stance.
BANG.
Mrs. Livingston shot at River but missed and hit the Squad car door.
River’s gaze pinned Abby and the deranged gun toting old bitty behind her. Still on her knees, Abby launched off the car door opening and dropped down to her belly. She rolled halfway under the car. The woman caught her hair and yanked trying to pull her from disappearing underneath.
A sweat bead dripped from River’s forehead trailing down his cheek. When Abby dropped down to the ground, he seized the opportunity, and took the shot. Mrs. Livingston clutched her hand, and the gun fell.
Ottar kicked into motion at the same time. He vaulted at Thomas, pulled his arm holding the saw away from Pepper’s neck, and slammed the idiot onto the asphalt. He sat on Thomas’s back and swung the gun, smacking the back of his head. Thomas’s unconscious body went limp. Ottar took out two hardy zip ties and secured the man’s hands behind his back, accidently smacking his face into the ground a few times.
River kicked the gun away from Mrs. Livingston and snapped the handcuffs around her wrists. He checked her wound, but the bullet just grazed the top of her hand. It barely bled.
Mrs. Livingston wailed out, “I’m going to have a heart attack. I’ll sue the police department.” Her face flamed bright red and she twisted her lips into a snarl.
“Shut up,” River shouted at the old woman. “You have the right to remain silent and I’d jump on that right if I were you.”
He peered down at Abby. Her hands and feet were still bound, and she rolled away from Mrs. Livingston. When she looked up at him with her sad wide eyes, his heart ricocheted off his ribs and plunged into his stomach. Her dirt smudged face and blood matted hair indicated she didn’t go easy.
